To Manhattan and Beyond…
by Lothelen
Summary: The Bridge of Khazadum has collapsed, and the Fellowship falls into darkness…landing in Catherine's apartment in Manhattan. Now she must find a way to get them back into Middle Earth. Rated for language. No slash. ON HIATUS
1. Prologue

Prologue: Collapse into Darkness

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that appears in any of Tolkien's books, or Peter Jackson's film trilogy.

Gandalf stood tall and proud, Glamdring clutched in one hand and his staff in the other. The Fellowship stood behind him, transfixed with awe and horror as he faced off the Balrog.

"You cannot pass," Gandalf commanded, his voice filled with power. Frodo screamed.

"I am a servant of the secret fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. The dark flame will not avail you, flame of Udûn!"

The Balrog stepped on the bridge, towering menacingly over the small figure that was Gandalf.

"Go, back to the shadow," Gandalf ordered, "You shall not pass!" The Balrog tried to pass. For a moment, the Fellowship and the Balrog teetered on the bridge. Then, the stone shattered, and all nine members of the Fellowship fell in to the incomprehensible darkness. The hobbits were screaming their heads off. Gimli and Boromir seemed too shocked to react. Aragorn had his sword drawn as he tumbled downwards. Legolas was attempting to shoot the Balrog with his bow and arrows. Gandalf was slashing the Balrog with his sword. The Balrog was roaring.

Time seemed to slow, and the fall seemed to last like an endless night. Everyone, Balrog included, became silent. Just when it seemed the fall would never end, and the members of the Fellowship were wondering if they were going to continue plummeting into darkness forever, they suddenly hit a layer of freezing water.

The cold was potent, and the sudden feel of something substantial and solid was shocking. The Nine Walkers were motionless in the water, stunned by the sudden, freezing liquid. The Balrog was reduced to a slimy, writhing creature.

Suddenly, the water turned into white light, and the members of the Fellowship were rendered temporarily blind from the sudden brightness. The feeling of falling continued, and each of the Nine Walkers regained their sight. Gandalf immediately realized that the Balrog was no longer falling with them. Then suddenly, the endless fall stopped and each pair of feet was suddenly slammed on a hard surface.

Author's Note: My first fanfic! Yay! Please read and review, I'll give you a virtual cookie if you do! Maybe even a kiss from Legolas or Aragorn…


	2. Discoveries and Explanations

**Chapter 1: Discoveries and Explanations**

Frodo: Since I'm the Ringbearer, I get to do first disclaimer.

Merry: Second. The first one was by Lothelen.

Frodo: Right. Since I'm the Ringbearer, I get to do the second disclaimer.

Pippin: Yeah, yeah, just get a move on already. I'm hungry.

Merry: You're always hungry, Pip.

Pippin: Oh, right.

Frodo: Lothelen doesn't own anything except Catherine, who you will be introduced to shortly.

Catherine Hartly was curled up in her bed when she heard the sound. It was evening, and she was reading a book of poetry her friend bought her for her birthday. Catherine had been living in Manhattan for about a year, working in a tiny bookstore and typing away at the novel she was writing. She had always wanted to be an author.

Catherine's reading was disturbed when she heard several crashes resounding throughout her small apartment. She instantly froze in fear. The one thing she hated about living alone was the thought of burglars terrified her. She had always been petite, barely reaching five feet, and had never had a self-defense class in her life, leading to a serious lack of confidence when it came to fighting.

Praying with all her heart that it was her cat Polka Dot that made the crashes, Catherine slipped out of bed and slipped on her favorite fuzzy slippers. Her eyes dashed around the room, searching for something she could use as a weapon. Her eyes rested on her desk lamp. She tiptoed over, unplugged it, and picked it up with trembling hands.

The floorboards creaked and she shuddered. Tiptoeing into the living room, her gaze fell on the most shocking sight she had ever seen. There, before her wide eyes, were nine figures. One of them looked very old, and was cloaked in grey, with a pointy blue hat shading his immensely bushy eyebrows. Next to him were two men. One of them was dark-haired with scruffy stubble covering his chin. The other was dressed in rich, elegant clothing. He had light brown, shoulder length hair and a neatly trimmed beard. It was the figures next to him that caused her alarm. Five of them were far too short to be regular men. Four of the five had gently curly hair, and oversized hairy feet. The other one was stocky, with a braided auburn beard. The man standing next to these people was a man so inhumanly beautiful, her jaw dropped in shock. He was fair-haired with stunningly blue eyes and _pointed ears._

Catherine stared at these nine men standing before her for a few seconds.

"You're the Fellowship of the Ring," she whispered, and then promptly fell over in a faint.

The nine members of the Fellowship were standing up and brushing themselves off after their fall when Catherine appeared. A second before she crept in the room, Legolas' head shot up, and he motioned for his comrades to remain silent.

There, standing before them, was a small woman. Well, she wasn't small compared to the hobbits and Gimli, but to the men, wizard, and elf in the group she was rather tiny. She was pale, with auburn hair pulled back behind her in a ponytail and wide green eyes nervously looking them over. Her mouth dropped open in shock as her gaze fell on Legolas.

"You're the Fellowship of the Ring," the young woman whispered, before she fell over unconscious. The nine walkers hesitantly made there way towards her. Pippin was the first to speak.

"She's dressed weird," he stated, gesturing at her flannel pajama bottoms and over-sized "The Decemberists" T-shirt. Gandalf glared at him.

"Thank you for that astute comment, Peregrin Took. A better comment might be, where are we, or who is she?" Frodo was studying her shirt.

"Maybe she's one of these Decemberists?"

"Perhaps," Legolas replied. "Maybe we should just wait until she regains consciousness."

"I do believe that would be the best thing to do," Gandalf said. "Aragorn, pick her up and move her on to that," he directed, gesturing to the old leather sofa under the window. Aragorn did as he was told. The Fellowship then seated themselves around her, waiting for her to wake up.

Catherine regained consciousness about ten minutes later. She awoke to find the extremely beautiful face of Legolas hovering above her. Before he could react to her being awake, she reached up and poked him in the jaw. Legolas fell backwards with a yelp. The other members of the Fellowship smiled and chuckled.

"I believe she's awake," Legolas said, trying to regain his composure. Catherine stared at him with wide eyes.

"You're real," she said incredulously.

"I am perfectly aware of that fact," Legolas replied testily. Catherine sat up and looked around at all the other members of the Fellowship before Gandalf butted in.

"Please, Milady. Could you perhaps tell us your name, and where we are?" Catherine shifted nervously.

"Um, well, my name is Catherine. But everyone calls me Cat. As for where you are, you are in my apartment, in Manhattan, New York. In the United States."

"New York? The United States," Sam asked with wide eyes. "Do such places exist?"

"Yes! Well, for us they do. You see, you may not believe me when I say this but, you people are all fake here." All Nine Walkers looked shocked. Cat took a breath and tried to explain.

"Yeah. You see, here all of you are characters in a series of books and movies called The Lord of the Rings." She glanced around to see nine incredulous stares.

"Wait here a moment," she said before hauling herself off of the couch and running over the bookshelf. She crouched down and pulled all three books in the Lord of the Rings series before dashing over to the shelf that held all of her DVDs and grabbing the three movies. She held them up.

"These are the books and the movies." Gandalf walked over slowly before grabbing "The Fellowship of the Ring" DVD.

"I look nothing like that," he stated scornfully, pointing at sir Ian Mckellen posing as Gandalf.

Cat sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Anyway do you see what I mean? Here you all only exist in these books and movies." Aragorn stepped forward cautiously.

"How is it possible for someone to have written these stories about us if we don't exist here," he asked. The other members of the Fellowship nodded in agreement at his question.

"Well, I don't exactly know. The books were written by Professor J.R.R. Tolkien after he fought in World War One. He also wrote the tale of Bilbo Baggin's journey to the Lonely Mountain, and the War of the Silmarils in the first age."

"He wrote about my uncle Bilbo," Frodo questioned. Cat nodded. Gandalf looked at the books.

"Would it be possible for me to look at this," he said, gesturing towards the Fellowship of the Ring. Cat nodded. Gandalf flipped to the chapter "A Knife in the Dark".

"According to what Frodo and Aragorn have told me that is a very accurate description of what happened at Weathertop." He handed back the book.

"What exactly are movies," Legolas asked.

"Well, they're kind of like plays, only you watch them on one of these," Cat attempted to explain, tapping the TV. "You can watch them over and over, and replay the scenes you want to watch again. Do you get the gist of it?" Gandalf nodded slowly.

"Then these books and m-movies," Gandalf said, stumbling over the word movie, "They tell of the future?"

"Yeah," Cat replied. "They tell the outcome of the War of the Ring. Where were you last before you came here?"

"We were falling through Khazadum," Frodo piped up. Cat frowned.

"That's odd. In these books and movies, only one of you fell into Khazadum," she explained, keeping her gaze averted from Gandalf. Gandalf looked at her seriously.

"Perhaps it is best that we don't know the outcome of these books and movies. It may lead to us altering events that should have been left unchanged." Cat nodded, yawned, then glanced at the clock. It read 10:30. She then looked around at the Fellowship.

"I'm going to have to find someplace for all of you to sleep," she said, and looked around her small living room. She headed to the linen closet and got out lots of blankets and pillows. After throwing them into the middle of the floor, Cat glanced up at the Nine Walkers.

"Here's all of the blankets and pillows I have. I have had far too long of a night to deal with sorting out who sleeps where. When you're ready to go to sleep, flip this switch and the lights will go out." She flipped the switch down and up again to demonstrate. "I'm going to bed."

The members of the Fellowship stared at the pillows for a minute. Merry was the first to break the silence.

"I'm hungry. I think Lady Cat forgot we haven't eaten." The other three hobbits nodded in agreement. Gandalf looked troubled.

"We all need food. Perhaps one of us should go tell her that we are hungry." Boromir offered. This suggestion was greeted with a resounding chorus of "not me"s. Cat seemed rather grumpy due to her tiredness. Finally, Frodo spoke up.

"I'll go and ask her for some food," he said reluctantly. Slowly, he headed towards the door Cat had disappeared through.

After withdrawing into her room, Cat had immediately thrown off her clothes and put on her fuzzy pink bathrobe before heating up her shower. She heard the creak of the opening door, and glanced up to see Frodo standing in her room, looking rather nervous.

"Well," she snapped. She didn't mean to be grumpy with the hobbit, but she was tired and had suffered from quite a shock when the Fellowship of the Ring showed up in her apartment. It's not every day some of your favorite book characters showed up in your home. "What do you need?"

Frodo shifted his weight to his other foot. "Uh, sorry to bother you, Lady Cat, but we haven't eaten in a while, and we're all very hungry. Would it be possible for you to find us some food?" Cat mentally slapped herself for forgetting that all nine members of the Fellowship, particularly the Hobbits, would be hungry.

"Oh man, sorry Frodo, I forgot that you guys hadn't eaten. I don't have much food here right now, I was planning on going shopping tomorrow. Let me go see what I can find. And just calling me Cat is fine, don't worry about all of the Lady stuff."

She headed through the living room, earning odd looks due to the fact all she was wearing was her bathrobe. When she thought about it, Cat reasoned that the chances of having bathrobes in Middle Earth were very slim. After arriving at the pantry, she rummaged around a little bit before coming up with two bags of Lay's Original Potato Chips, a couple of boxes of Thin Mints, and an old bottle of Diet Coke. Sighing, she showed the food the Fellowship.

"Okay, this pretty much all I have on me right now. Like I told Frodo, I'll be going grocery shopping tomorrow." Cat dumped the food in the middle, and stepped back to watch as the Fellowship examined what she had brought. Aragorn was examining a box of Thin Mints with a confused expression.

"What in Arda are Girl Scout Cookies," he asked, looking thoroughly bewildered. Cat took a deep breath and attempted to explain.

"They're cookies sold by groups of girls called Girls Scouts." Seeing his still-confused expression, Cat sighed in frustration. "Just eat them alright? They're really good." Aragorn cautiously took a bite out of a cookie. His face immediately brightened.

"You're right, these are quite delicious." Cat chuckled. It was rather funny to see the future King of Gondor munching on Thin Mints. Sam, meanwhile, was nibbling contentedly on a potato chip.

"Mister Frodo, Sir, you ought to try one of these here chips. They taste just like the taters my Old Gaffer used to grow!"

"Well, duh! They're called potato chips for a reason you know," Cat said with a roll of her eyes. She glanced around to see how the rest of the Fellowship was faring. Gimli had taken a swig of the Diet Coke and was frowning a bit. Cat walked over and took the bottle from him.

"Here, let me try that," she said, taking a small sip. "Ugh." Cat made a face. "I thought it might be flat.. Hold on a minute." She came back a moment later with a jug of apple juice, which she set on the coffee table. "Right. I'm going to take a shower and get to bed." Seeing confused faces at this, she continued. "A shower is kind of like a bath you take while standing up. I'll explain it in better detail tomorrow. G'night!" The Fellowship responded with various versions of "Good Night Lady Cat." Cat smiled, then headed into her bedroom. After taking her shower, she promptly crashed onto her bed and fell asleep immediately.

The Nine Walkers were busy eating the food and setting up makeshift beds with the pillows and blankets. Gandalf, being Gandalf, claimed the couch. Aragorn was relaxing in an old armchair in the corner. Legolas and Gimli were arguing about who had to make do with the hot pink pillow. Eventually Legolas was stuck with it, much to the amusement of Gimli. When Boromir wasn't looking, however, Legolas switched his pillow with the pink one. The hobbits meanwhile, were settling down in a disorganized heap of blankets. Gandalf, seeing everyone was somewhat settled (Boromir was still looking at the hot pink pillow with disgust), spoke.

"Well, what do you make of it here? And more importantly, how are we to get back?" Everyone looked at each other worriedly at this. Frodo was looking at the Ring, troubled.

"It is very interesting here. I'm not sure I like it much. It seems very fast, and very strange. For some reason the Ring has become lighter since we got here. It seems its power has diminished somewhat."

"That is probably because the power of the Enemy is very faint in this world, if it exists at all," Gandalf explained. "We can only hope it will remain that way. Since we were somehow transferred here, it is possible that servants of the Enemy may be as well. It is also possible that Sauron is already aware that this universe exists, and perhaps is devising a plan to send the Nine here to claim the Ring." At the mention of Sauron, the room seemed to grow dark, despite the bright electric lighting. Boromir frowned.

"Is Lady Cat to be trusted? Perhaps she is part of the Enemy's plan."

"I do not believe her to be a spy," Gandalf responded. "She seemed thoroughly surprised when we arrived here, and has not made any attempt to take the Ring. I believe she could be of help to us. For now, we must rely on her hospitality and hope that her intentions are completely honorable." He frowned for a minute, then smiled at the company. "It would do us all some good to get some rest. We will be able discuss dark subjects more in the daylight." He walked over to the light switch Cat had shown him, and flipped it down. Out went the lights. "Truly a marvelous invention," Gandalf muttered, before heading over the sofa and preparing to fall asleep.

**Author's Note: First Chapter! Do you like it? I'm trying hard to make it good. And I apologize for any silly spelling/grammar errors, I tried to edit them out but I'm not the best editor and there might be a few in there. Review and get a hug from the hobbit of your choice! ^_^ I personally would choose Frodo, I think he's adorable!**


	3. Movies and Exploding Potatoes

**Chapter 2: Movies and Exploding Potatoes**

Disclaimer:

Lothelen: Who wants to do the disclaimer?

Merry: Sam hasn't appeared in one yet. He should do it.

Sam: With all do respect, Milady, I would prefer not to. Mister Frodo is much better at that sort of thing.

Lothelen: Hmm. Hey Blondie, get your butt over here! *Gestures at Legolas*

Legolas: My name is not Blondie.

Lothelen: Yeah, yeah whatever. Just do the disclaimer will ya?

Legolas: Fine. *Sighs Dramatically* Lothelen doesn't own anything except Cat.

Cat woke up to the sound of Gandalf shouting "Fool of a Took!" Groaning, she covered her ears with her pillow. She had hoped so much that the Fellowship arriving at her home had been a bad dream, but Gandalf's shout got rid of that hope. Cat hauled herself out of bed, throwing on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt before she walked into the living room. It appeared that Pippin had spilled the jug of apple juice on Merry, and his shout had awakened Gandalf.

"Dammit Pippin, now I have to clean that up," she groaned. Pippin muttered an apology and looked at his toes. Merry was looking his apple juice covered clothes in dismay.

"Um, Lady Cat, is there any place for me to wash up?"

"Sure Merry, I'll show you to the bathroom," Cat replied. She looked at the members of the Fellowship and decided that they could all do with a good scrubbing. She really did not want her apartment to smell like a bunch of ripe men. "In fact, all of you should probably take showers." Everyone looked confused at this.

"If you don't mind my asking, Milady, but what are bathrooms and showers," Sam questioned, "I know you started to explain what a shower is last night, but I don't really understand." Cat searched for a way to explain the concepts of bathrooms and showering to the Fellowship.

"Well, a bathroom is a place where you can wash, and relieve yourself. Showers are in bathrooms. In a shower, you stand under a sort of faucet, you might say, and water is sprayed over you. Follow me and I'll show you," she said, and walked down the hallway with the Fellowship at her heels. "Right," she said, upon arriving at the bathroom. Turing the water on in the shower, Cat turned to Merry. "Since you're the one Pippin spilled the apple juice on, you can go first. Wash your hair with this," she said, holding up her shampoo.

"So, I just stand under the water?" Merry looked doubtfully at the shower.

"Yep. While your all doing that I'm going shopping for more food. If you need me, call me on that," Cat said, pointing to the phone next to the sink. "Just press the talk button and dial the number 501-6234." Cat sighed, threw on her boots and coat, and headed out the door. She could tell it was going to be a very long day.

When Cat returned to her apartment, she found the Fellowship sitting in the living room, wearing their old clothes but looking decidedly fresher. She decided that she would have to get them some new clothes at some point. She was also going either find a better paying job or convince Aragorn and Boromir (The only members of the Fellowship who wouldn't attract odd stares) to get jobs. Feeding and clothing nine people was going to take its toll on her credit card. Sighing, Cat dumped the bags of groceries on the kitchen counter.

"Well, showers and food have been taken care of. I got some potatoes, broccoli, and mushrooms, as well as pasta, bread, cheese, and lots of chocolate." Once again, nine confused stares were directed her way. "Chocolate, is like really, really yummy brown stuff. Like candy," she explained. The Fellowship members nodded in comprehension. Cat smiled. "Well, we have the whole day ahead of us. What do you all want to do?"

"We were thinking that perhaps we could watch a movie. Your explanation of them was intriguing," Aragorn offered earnestly.

"That is a wonderful suggestion. Who wants to pick the movie?" Everyone was silent for a moment. Then Sam spoke up.

"Mister Frodo is Ringbearer. It seems fitting that he should get to pick the movie." Frodo, approving of this suggestion, stood. Cat pointed to the shelf holding the DVDs.

"Pick whatever you want," she said. Frodo examined the various movies slowly. Finally he selected _Sweeny Todd_.

"This looks interesting," he said. "What it is about?" Cat grinned wickedly. It was hilarious imagining the Fellowship's reaction to a mad barber who kills people while shaving them and mashes them into meat pies.

"Well you'll just have to watch it and find out, won't you? While you guys watch the movie, I'll make lunch." She set up the movie and sauntered into the kitchen. Sure enough, the Fellowhip's reactions to the various gory parts of the movie were hilarious. When Alan Rickman appeared, Cat couldn't help but shout, "Look, it's Snape!"

"Who is Snape," Legolas inquired. The other members of the Fellowship looked just as confused. Cat coughed.

"Um, never mind, I'll explain some other time." She did the same thing when Helen Bonham Carter appeared ("Woo hoo, it's Bellatrix!") During the song "Pretty Women", Cat cut her thumb while mincing mushrooms.

"Oh, shit that hurts," she screamed, hopping up and down holding her thumb. Once again, everyone stared at her.

"Sorry, just cut my thumb," she explained, and hopped over to sink to get some paper towels and soak up the blood. Finally, the movie ended and lunch was ready. "Soooooo," Cat began awkwardly, "How did you all like the movie?"

"That was disgusting," Boromir said with a strange expression on his face. Kind of like he had just drunk some slimy, curdled milk.

"It was a little disturbing," Pippin agreed. "Although I liked the songs." Frodo nodded.

"The 'Green Finch and Linnet Bird' one was quite pretty. Nothing on Elvish music though," he said, glancing at Legolas.

"Alas, I have seen blood in my lifetime, but this the first time the sight of blood has made me nauseated," Legolas groaned. He did look rather green. "It is wrong for one to eat their kin. Only orcs behave in that despicable manner."

"I wonder if I will be able to keep down whatever you have cooked us," Gimli agreed.

"Well, your going to have to try because I spent over an hour cooking it, cutting my thumb in the process," Cat said sourly. The hobbits' noses went up as they sniffed what she had cooked. Slowly, wide maniacal grins spread across their faces.

"Are those mushrooms I smell," Frodo asked hopefully. Cat smiled and nodded. Immediately she was trampled by four hungry hobbits heading into the kitchen.

Dinner passed without much chatter. Cat finally decided to bring up that she would be going to work tomorrow, and leaving them all in her apartment unattended.

"I have to go to my job at the bookstore where I work tomorrow. I'll be gone from 7:00 to 1:00, tomorrow through Friday." Everyone looked at her worriedly.

"This world is still very new to us. What if we require you assistance at some point," Boromir pointed out.

"I am perfectly aware that you may require my assistance at some point. You can use the phone I showed you earlier," Cat responded. "If you need reminding on how they work, I would be more than happy to jog your memory." She was slightly pissed at Boromir's tone. How did he expect her to feed them all if she couldn't work?

The rest of the day was spent showing the Fellowship how to use basic appliances, such as the phone, washing machine, dishwasher, and microwave. Cat sternly ordered them to not attempt to use any of the items she had shown them while she was away. A quick dinner followed the tour, then preparations for bed. After everyone was settled, Cat withdrew into her room, where she quickly showered, through on an oversized T-shirt and a pair of flannel pajama bottoms, and collapsed in her bed.

Cat had slept through her alarm. She woke up with the horrible taste of morning breath in her throat, dreadfully groggy. She groaned, pushed herself out of bed, and checked the time. She was over an hour late for work. Cat got dressed at the speed of light, hastily applied some makeup, and searched for her pair of black heels. Finding them missing from her closet, she ran from her room.

The members of the Fellowship had been debating whether they should wake Cat up or not. Sleeping in the wilderness had left them all early risers, and all Nine Walkers had been up since six. Just when they had resolved to send Frodo to get Cat out of bed (he had successfully fetched her to get food on their first night in her apartment), she appeared, looking very frazzled. She stopped when she saw them and glanced around.

"Have any of you guys seen a pair of black heels?" Seeing confused looks, Cat sighed and continued her search. Finally, she found the shoes sitting by the bookshelf. Shoving them on her feet and grabbing her coat (It was early December and quite cold) she headed to the door. "Help yourself to the food. Call me if you need anything." And she was out.

Cat shivered as she walked to work. She couldn't afford a car, so it was either walking, taking the subway, or getting a ride from her boyfriend. She usually walked, the exercise helped her figure. As she walked, she shake off the feeling that but something would go horribly wrong while she was at work. It was only the Fellowship's third day in the city, anything could happen. After walking for about fifteen minutes, she arrived at _Cosy Nook Books_. Opening the door quietly, Cat braced herself for the wrath of her boss, Jake Stevenson.

Stevenson (Nobody called him by his first name, it wasn't menacing enough for his taste. Even his wife called him Stevenson) was sitting in his office, occasionally barking orders at poor Sarah sitting at the cashier register when the door opened and Cat appeared. Stevenson was, there was no other way to describe it, scary. He was a beefy man, standing at around 6' 3", and towering above Cat. He had a very quick temper, and got very angry when Sarah or Cat was late. Poor Cat stumbled into the bookstore and looked up at her boss as he stood up to his full height and opened his mouth.

"What sort of hour do you think this is," he whispered, his voice dangerously low.

"I'm sorry it's just—"

"You know what happens. You show up, two hours late, you work two hours overtime."

"I really, really have to get home as soon as possible tonight. I have something I really need to attend to—"

"I don't care if you need to get home two hours late. You're working two hours overtime."

"Okay, okay, I'll work overtime," Cat sighed. She was going to have to call the Fellowship and warn them that she was going to be late.

"Now get to work or I'll expect you here an hour early tomorrow." Cat sighed. She had been on time at work every day in the past two months. Make one little slip and the boss blows up at you. Sarah flashed her a sympathetic smile, but didn't speak to her. Stevenson disapproved of idle chatter in his store. Cat gloomily set to work shelving books, helping customers find what they needed, and liberating poor Sarah from the cashier register. Two hours passed uneventfully. Then suddenly Cat's phone rang.

"Hello, who is this?" Sarah looked at her curiously. Cat didn't get many calls during work hours. Cat, however, was listening to the person on the phone, who happened to be Frodo.

"Uh, hi Cat! It's Frodo," he said, sounding extremely nervous.

"Oh my goodness! Is something wrong? Why are you calling," Cat asked, avoiding saying his name as it might cause questions to arise from Sarah.

"Well, it's just, er, Pippin tried to microwave a potato while Gandalf and Aragorn were in the other room, and it sort of exploded." Cat slapped her forehead. She could practically hear Gandalf's stern "Fool of a Took!"

"Does Gandalf know? Is the potato on fire?"

"Gandalf knows. He was really angry with Pippin, and tried using his powers to put out the flames but it just made it made the fire worse and—" he broke off and Cat heard some shouts of alarm in the background. "Merry what in Arda did you do? Sorry Cat, I have to go," and with that he hung up. Cat felt like screaming. She turned to Sarah, who was giving her a very odd look.

"There's a small fire in my apartment and I have to get home. Please don't ask questions, and help me get out of here without him noticing," she said to Sarah, gesturing towards Stevenson's office. Sarah nodded slowly.

"Go. I'll tell him an urgent situation arose that required your immediate attention. I'll ask questions tomorrow," she said smoothly. Cat thanked her, and rushed out the door.

Cat breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her apartment building wasn't burning. She stopped for a minute to catch her breath, having run the entire way, then headed through the door leading to the lobby of her apartment building. She took the elevator to the fifteenth floor, and ran as fast as she could to her door. As soon as she opened it the smell of burning plastic overwhelmed her nose, and smoke filled her lungs. Coughing, she looked around.

The microwave was smoking, and was clearly the source of the burnt plastic smell. Gandalf was shouting something at Pippin and Merry, who were looking guiltily at their toes. Frodo's blue eyes were wide, and he looked like he might hug her out of relief. Sam was patting his shoulder in a comforting manner. Legolas and Gimli were fighting about something, while Boromir was making various unhelpful comments. Aragorn was holding a pot.

"Well," Cat asked with a scowl. "What the hell did you two do," she said, gesturing at Merry and Pippin. Merry gave Pippin a hard look.

"You started this Pip. You explain."

"Um," Pippin started nervously, "Gandalf and Strider were in the other room, and I saw the potatoes and thought I might cook one in the microwave things you showed me, but it kind of exploded and caught fire. Merry came and grabbed one of those things to put over the fire, but it seemed to make it worse," he said, pointing to the placemat.

"Well, that explains the smell of burning plastic. Fool of a Took," she barked suddenly at Pippin. Pippin jumped, and nearly wet himself at her suddenly sharp voice. Gandalf raised an eyebrow at Cat and chuckled, and she sent him a cheeky smile before turning back to Pippin. "You could have burnt the building down had the fire not gone out. How did you extinguish the fire anyways?"

"Aragorn got a pot full of water when he came into the room and threw it over the fire," Pippin replied, still looking at her rather nervously.

"Remind me never to trust you with the microwave and never give Merry a placemat," Cat said with a grin and Pippin smiled a little. Now that the incident was over, it seemed rather funny. She turned to Frodo, who was still looking troubled. He gazed at her with his big blue eyes.

"You okay," she asked him. "You sounded pretty freaked out over the phone."

"I think I'm alright," he said. "After the Balrog, the fire seemed rather terrifying. It brought back memories." At these words, Cat frowned. For the first time she was considering what would happen in the War of the Ring when (or if) the Fellowship returned to Middle Earth. If Gandalf never battled with the Balrog and returned as Gandalf the White, Sauron would not fall. Gandalf the White played for too much of an important role in the story. Cat was tired though, and could not be troubled by much after her apartment had nearly burnt down. She glanced at the clock. It was still early in the afternoon. "Have you lot had lunch yet," Cat asked.

After lunch, Cat decided to watch her favorite movie to unwind from the trauma of the microwave incident. She went over to the DVD shelf and pulled out _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_, attracting curious glances from the Fellowship. Yes, Cat was completely obsessed with Harry Potter. She had always enjoyed Lord of the Rings, but Harry Potter was her absolute favorite series. She had read each of the books twenty times, and watched each movie over and over. _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_ had always been her favorite movie. She thought Daniel Radcliffe was adorable in it, and loved the Yule Ball. In fact, given the choice, she would rather have Harry, Ron, and Hermione in her apartment then the Fellowship. Cat sighed as she thought wistfully of the Golden Trio, then turned to the Fellowship.

"We are going to watch the movie for my favorite book, _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire._ You know how I told you that in this world you only exist in a book and movie series? Harry Potter is another series. In fact, the Harry Potter books and movies are, in my opinion, the best books and movies out there." The Fellowship was looking extremely interested at another set of characters from books just like them. "This one is the fourth movie in the series," Cat continued. She set up the movie, then went in the kitchen to get a bowl of popcorn.

Watching the movie with the Fellowship was, to say the least, interesting. Cat, despite having watched the movie at least a dozen times, still gasped at the exciting and suspenseful moments, let out a very long "awwwwwwwwwww" at Hermione's Yule Ball entrance, and screamed in horror when Voldemort rose out of the cauldron in the graveyard scene. The hobbits shared these reactions with her; Merry and Pippin in particular were excited by the movie. Gandalf looked amused with the depiction of magic and the concept of a Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Aragorn, Boromir, Legolas, and Gimli, didn't quite know what to make of the movie. Cat clapped enthusiastically when the movie was over, along with the hobbits.

"Well, what did you think of it," she asked excitedly.

"I liked it very much," Pippin said. "Poor Hermione. I felt so bad for her during that ball scene."

"Was the Snape that Harry hated the same Snape you mentioned during the other movie," Merry questioned.

"Yep, the same Snape," Cat said happily.

"The ending was interesting, although this Voldemort doesn't seem like much of a foe compared to the Enemy," Aragorn said.

"Your right," Cat replied. "Sauron could totally whip Voldemort's sorry ass."

"Do not speak his name," Gandalf barked, his expression dark.

"Whose name, Voldemort's or Sauron's?"

"Voldemort is a fictional character! The Enemy is a very real threat!"

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry. Geez Gandalf, you need to take a chill pill!" Cat shook her head. Gandalf could be rather annoying. Just then the phone rang.

"I'm getting it," Cat hollered, and stomped over to pick up the phone.

"Heeeyyy, Kitty Cat, is that you?" Cat groaned at the voice of her boyfriend, Jason. He was adorable and she loved him to death, but he felt the need to call her constantly. He had been in Las Vegas the pass two days, hence the lake of phone calls, but now he was back, and the constant phone ringing must resume.

"Hey Baby, what's up?"

"I wanted to hear your sweet voice and ask you to come over tonight. Me and the boys have been missing you." Jason and his friends loved Cat, mostly because they enjoyed having a pretty girl around to tease.

"I'm sure you have. You've missed me coming over to your place and watching you drink beer and make various rude comments, trying to impress me." This statement brought raised eyebrows from all of the Fellowship, and Cat rolled her eyes.

"Aw, come on Kitty Cat, don't hiss at me. You know I love you."

"And I love you too. Look, I have a lot of writing I have to do tonight, so I can't come over. Is there anything else you wanted to ask me?"

"Yes, there is. My Christmas Party is going to be on the 18th. I convinced Lacy and Kayla to come, so you won't be the only girl, all though you'll definitely be the prettiest one." Cat rolled her eyes at the flattery, then mentally slapped herself. How could she have forgotten Freddy's annual Christmas Party? Freddy held a wild party at his house each year to celebrate the holiday season. Cat went each year, and the parties were pretty fun. This year however, the Fellowship of the Ring was living with her. Still, she thought they would be okay for a day and a night. By the 18th the Nine Walkers would be pretty well adjusted to city life. Finally, she responded to Jason.

"Flattery won't get you anywhere with me. You, of all people, should know that. But don't worry, I'll come."

"Wonderful! Wear something sexy, okay Kitty Cat?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll go shopping for something this week. Love ya."

"Love ya too." And with that he hung up. Cat sighed and looked at the Fellowship.

"What was that all about," Frodo asked, his eyebrows still slightly raised.

"That would be my extremely annoying but adorable boyfriend, inviting me to his annual Christmas Party."

"What's Christmas," Legolas asked, looking confused. Cat closed her eyes and took a deep breath. How was she supposed to explain Christianity to the Fellowship of the Ring?

"Well, it celebrates the birth of a savior, Jesus Christ. He was supposedly born on December 25, so we celebrate Christmas on that day. We celebrate by giving each other gifts to show how much we love one another." Everyone nodded in comprehension.

"Today is December 7. On the 18th I'm going to Jason's house for a Christmas Party. I'll probably be gone all night." Aragorn and Boromir smirked at this. Cat ignored them. "I'll have to go and buy something nice to wear. You guys are gonna come with me. It's about time we got you some normal clothes." Everyone nodded enthusiastically at these words. They had been wearing the same clothes for days, and were looking forward to something fresh to wear. Then Legolas spoke up.

"I didn't know you were courting someone."

"Well, I am. His name is Jason, and we've been dating for about three years."

"Why don't you marry him," Pippin asked innocently. "Three years is quite a period of time."

"I'm just not ready to make that commitment yet. Maybe someday." Cat sighed wistfully. In truth, she would love to get married, by Jason wasn't the right person. Thinking about shopping for the Fellowship brought more issues to mind than her boyfriend. She was still thinking about how she was going to get the money to support nine people. "There's something else I need to ask you guys about," Cat said, slightly nervous.

"What's the matter? Is something wrong," Legolas asked, his voice full of concern.

"No, nothing's wrong. It's just that I don't have enough money to feed and cloth nine people. Aragorn and Boromir are going to have to get jobs, since they are the only ones who don't look otherworldly." Aragorn and Boromir looked shocked at this.

"What sort of jobs," Boromir asked, suspicious.

"Probably just working in a store or something. But we don't have to worry about that quite yet." Cat checked the time. She needed to get dinner ready. "I'm going to get dinner ready, then write some poetry."

Cat always wrote to unwind and she was in the mood to write a poem. Something challenging, that required thought. Maybe she would start a sestina. Cat redirected her thoughts from writing to preparing dinner. Thirty minutes later, she had pasta ready. "All right, you lot. Eat up and don't disturb me while I'm writing." She walked over to the sofa, where she sat down with a huff and retrieved her laptop.

The Fellowship watched Cat curiously while she wrote. She seemed concentrated and serious as she typed away, and unaware of anything except what she was writing. Frodo, who had always been interested in Bilbo's poems and songs, walked over to ask if he could read what she was writing. Cat laughed when she heard his request, and smiled kindly.

"When it's done Frodo, I promise I'll let you read it. If you want, I have some books of poetry you might enjoy. Poetry in this world is very different from poetry in Middle Earth, so you might be slightly confused by it."

"How is it different," Frodo asked, his blue eyes wide and curious. Cat thought for a moment on how to explain modern poetry to Frodo (and the rest of the Fellowship, who were listening in at this point).

"Well, poems here are commonly written in free verse. It means that there aren't any rules that you must follow while you write a poem, you can just write it however you please. The poems don't have to have a certain number lines in each stanza, meter, or rhyme. Poems written in free verse can be very beautiful, and very touching." Frodo and the rest of the Fellowship looked very interested at this. "Here," Cat said with a smile. "Let me go get an example to read to you." She looked at her bookshelf for a minute, then selected William Carlos William's _Spring and All_. She flipped through it for a moment, finally stopping at "The Rose is Obsolete". Cat cleared her throat, and began to read:

_The rose is obsolete_

_but each petal ends in_

_an edge, the double facet_

_cementing the grooved_

_columns of air-The edge_

_cuts without cutting_

_meets-nothing-renews_

_itself in metal or porcelain-_

_wither? It ends-_

_But if it ends_

_the start is begun_

_so to engage roses_

_becomes a geometry-_

_Sharper, neater, more cutting_

_figured in majolica-_

_the broken plate_

_glazed with a rose_

_Somewhere the sense_

_makes copper roses_

_steel roses-_

_The rose carried weight of love_

_but love is at an end-of roses_

_It is at the edge of the_

_petal that love waits_

_Crisp, worked to defeat_

_laboredness-fragile_

_plucked, moist, half-raised_

_cold, precise, touching_

_What_

_The place between the petal's_

_edge and the_

_From the petal's edge a line starts_

_That being of steel_

_infinitely fine, infinitely_

_rigid penetrates_

_the Milky Way_

_without contact-lifting_

_from it-neither hanging_

_nor pushing-_

_The fragility of the flower_

_unbruised_

_penetrates space_

There was silence for a moment, after Cat finished reading. Frodo was the first to speak.

"That was beautiful."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." Everyone else looked rather stunned. The rest of the night passed without incident, but with the lingering sound of the poem on the air, leaving everyone rather quiet and serious.

**Author's Note: Third Chapter, and more to come, including shopping, Katy Perry, Christmas Parties, and Nazgûl! So keep reading, and please review! Reviewers get a virtual unicorn. I know, not a creature of Middle Earth, but still, they're cute!**


	4. Ringwraiths and a Shopping Trip

Chapter 3: Rinwraiths and a Shopping Trip.

Disclaimer:

Pippin: Lothelen doesn't own anything except some random pencils, her laptop, and the character of Cat.

Gandalf: Fool of a Took, I wanted to do the disclaimer! *Raises staff menacingly*

Pippin: Meep! *Runs off to eat vast quantities of mushrooms*

Lothelen: It's okay Grandpa, you can do the next disclaimer.

Gandalf: Alright, alright. And don't call me Grandpa!

Lothelen: Sorry, Grandpa.

The week passed in a haze for Cat. She managed to avoid Stevenson's wrath and Sarah's questions pretty well after the microwave incident, but she was careful to always be on time for work for the rest of the week. The Nine Walkers were adjusting slowly to city life, although ten people living in a tiny apartment together led to some awkward situations. There was an embarrassing moment when Legolas walked in on Cat taking a bath. Thankfully, the bubbles covered her, but there were still days of blushing and avoiding each other afterwards. At one point, Pippin managed to get hold of a Victoria's Secret catalogue, which he showed to the other hobbits. When Cat asked what all the giggling and blushing was about and they showed her the catalogue, Cat freaked out and threw the thing away.

Life went on however, and all ten people settled into a comfortable routine during the week. Cat granted them permission to use the TV and reminded them how it worked, so the Fellowship was able to watch movies and random shows while she was at work. At night, Cat would write, and occasionally read aloud what she wrote. Everyone listened well, and Cat was happy she had a group of people who enjoyed her poetry and stories.

Something happened on Friday, however, that made things very challenging for the Fellowship and Cat. It was a chilly day, and Cat was thoroughly huddled in her coat as she walked home, shivering. It was a cloudy day, and a couple of snowflakes began to fall, so she picked up the pace, hoping she would be able to make it back before it began snowing too hard. Suddenly, a shiver went up her spine. She suddenly felt, not just chilly, but freezing. A wave of evil washed over her, and she stopped, her heart pounding in terror. Beads of sweat formed at her hairline. Then she heard it.

"Catheriiiiiiiiinnnne. Bagginsssssssss." It was a low, deadly hiss. She turned slowly, and saw what she was hoping against hope she would never lay eyes on. It was a ringwraith, a Nazgûl, one of the Nine. The black robes hung in tatters around an empty face, and the cold mail of the ringwraith's boots clinked as it stepped. The people around it were shaking with fear, and unable to think clearly. The person it was questioning was shuddering horribly, and seemed to think that the wraith was someone playing a very bad joke.

"I'm afraid I do not know what you're talking about," the person said with a rather forced chuckle. "If you're searching for someone you might contact the police." Cat didn't need to hear anymore. She ran for her life. She ran faster than she ever had in her life, and didn't stop until she reached her apartment door. She opened it then collapsed on the floor, gasping for breath. The Fellowship saw her and immediately rushed over to her, where the gathered around her anxiously, bombarding her with questions.

"Lady Cat, whatever is the matter," Legolas said, his voice and eyes full of concern. Cat just sat there, gasping with fear and exhaustion.

"What's wrong lass, are you hurt," Gimli asked. When Cat still didn't speak, Gandalf grew impatient.

"Lady Cat, you must tell us what happened!" Cat opened her mouth and spoke haltingly, still breathing heavily.

"Nazgûl. Here. Know. Frodo and Me."

"Nazgûl here? What do you meant there are Nazgûl here?" Gandalf's voice was grave and his eyes were filled with foreboding.

"Saw a Nazgûl on the street. Asking for Frodo and I. They know you're here." Everyone except Gandalf gasped. Poor Frodo was looking absolutely terrified. Aragorn, pulled Gandalf so that he was looking at him, his expression grave.

"What are we to do? It is ill news indeed that the Nine are here, roaming the City, and they know about us staying with Catherine. How could He know about her, and that we're staying here? How did He manage to transport the Nine into this world?" Gandalf opened his mouth to answer, but Catherine cut him off.

"I don't know how Sauron knows that you're here with me, but you aren't staying here anymore. I can't take this. I'll feed you, clothe you, and give you shelter, but protection from wraiths? Wraiths that probably want to kill me? That's going to far." Gandalf sighed at this.

"Lady Cat, please try to understand—"

"Understand what? That you need my protection? I'm not giving it. I don't give a damn if you want to stay here. I'm 25 years old! I have a job, a boyfriend, a life! The last thing I need is to take care of Nine Fictional characters that are being stalked by a bunch of undead wraiths!" Everyone was looking shocked at this, but Gandalf persisted.

"Lady Cat, I—"

"I'm not going to deal with this any longer. You know why? Because you all are fake! Any minute now, I'm going to wake up in my nice quiet bedroom, right here in my nice quiet apartment, and you'll all be gone! No more undead wraiths, hobbits that eat to much, stubborn dwarves, unnaturally beautiful elves, overly serious men, and absolutely no stupid, annoying wizards!" She was glaring at Gandalf, and her green eyes flashed with anger.

"I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE! I MADE IT AN ENTIRE WEEK WITH NINE FAKE PEOPLE IN MY APARTMENT, FEEDING THEM, GIVING THEM A PLACE TO SLEEP, SPENDING WHAT LITTLE MONEY I HAVE ON THEM, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!"

"Cat, please calm down—"

"NO PIPPIN, I MOST CERTAINLY WILL NOT CALM DOWN! I'M NOT GOING TO DEAL WITH ANY MORE OF THIS CRAP! I'M NOT GOING TO BE KILLED BY WRAITHS, PROTECTING FICTIONAL CHARACTERS! I AM NOT GOING TO DIE!"

With that last shout, Cat crumbled on the floor, shaking with massive sobs. She cried for twenty minutes, while the Fellowship just watched her, their expressions grim. She cried until she could cry no more. Then she pinched herself, over and over, hoping to wake up and find that everything had just been a horrible nightmare. But she never did wake up. Eventually, she just lay on the floor, shivering with waves of terror. It was not a dream. They were there. The Fellowship of the Ring and the Nazgûl were in her city. She had just yelled of them, probably, causing them to hate her. Suddenly, exhaustion from running and crying crashed over her, and she fell instantly into a deep, troubled sleep full of shadowy wraiths prowling the sidewalk bellow her apartment.

Cat woke up with a pounding headache and a horrible dry feeling in her throat. She was on the sofa, and the Fellowship seemed to be gathered around her, not realizing she was awake. They were talking in very serious voices. Cat closed her eyes and listened in to their conversation.

"Perhaps the strain of housing and feeding all of us really is becoming too much for Lady Cat. We might be able to find somewhere else to stay," Aragorn was saying.

"Where?" Gandalf was the one speaking now, and his voice was very grave. "The people of this world use different currency than we do. We have no money. And now that the Nine are here, it is far too dangerous to wander the streets, looking for shelter."

"The question is, how did they get here? How did the Enemy manage to bring the Nine here? If we found a way to return to Middle Earth, would He find a way to bring the Nine back as well?"

"I don't have the answers to anything." Gandalf sounded old, and extremely weary. "All I know is that for the time being, we must depend on Lady Cat's hospitality, for we do not know much about our world. She is our only hope."

Cat had heard enough. She sat up quickly, then immediately regretted it because her head began to spin.

"Oh Shit, that hurts!" Everyone immediately looked at her.

"I'm sorry, I just have a horrible headache."

"You cried for a long time, and slept for an even longer period of time. It is natural that you should feel slightly disoriented. How are you faring, Lady Cat?" Aragorn was looking at her with concern.

"My head's a little sore, that's all." She looked around at all of them and decided she owed them an apology for the way she had acted. "I-I'm sorry for yelling, it's j-just that I feel so helpless with a-all of you h-here and N-Nazgûl here and everything, I'm just a 25-year-old w-woman, and I c-can't protect you," she said, and all of the feelings she had felt earlier crashed over her again and she began crying once more. Legolas put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Please, Lady Cat. Do not start crying again. We do not blame you for your outburst earlier. It is only natural that you should feel afraid."

"Thanks Legolas, I appreciate the support. I've been doing some thinking." Everyone stared at her.

"Thinking on what," Pippin asked.

"Well, at some point, you people are going to have to leave my apartment. Don't worry, I'm not kicking you out," she said quickly, noticing everyone's nervous expressions. "It's just, my friends and Jason come over here to talk and whatnot and they're going to find it weird if I don't let anyone in my apartment. Plus, I need time alone to just relax, and unwind. So I was thinking we're going to need to get you all some normal clothes. That way, you don't stand out as much, and are safer from the Nazgûl."

"Lady Cat, because the Nine are here, it would be extremely dangerous to be roaming the streets, shopping for clothes." Leave it to Gandalf to be a party pooper. Cat, however, was not to be daunted. Instead, she grinned wickedly.

"Well, obviously we won't be wandering around on the streets. We'll be taking the subway."

Getting the Fellowship onto the train had been an absolute nightmare for Cat. They had walked about ten minutes to get to the nearest subway station, and Gandalf was acting like a nervous wreck, constantly asking "Are you sure this is a good idea" and raising his staff menacingly at innocent passerby, looking around for ringwraiths. The drummers playing in Washington Square Park particularly alarmed him. "They look orcs to me," he said.

Things got even worse at the station. Cat was attracting thoroughly odd looks from passerby, due to the appearance of the Fellowship. This was not made any better by the fact that the Fellowship was constantly asking very loud questions about everything, from the turnstiles to their MetroCards. Then Gimli's beard stuck, nearly strangling him as he tried to push through.

Finally, the nightmare of the turnstile was over and it was time to board. The trains were usually very crowded, and that day was no exception. Aragorn, Boromir, Gandalf, and Legolas, had to stand and hold onto the bar running across the train's ceiling since their were no available seats. The hobbits, of course were too small to reach, so Cat had to think of a way to get them seats. She ended up asking four men if her "children" could have their seats, since they couldn't stand safely. The men snickered at this and gave her some odd looks, but gave up their seats.

The ride didn't last too long until they reached the closest station to the humongous Macy's. But that was plenty of time for a beggar to accost the Fellowship asking for change in return for a poem. Cat gave him five dollars, hoping that would be enough to send him on his way. Unfortunately, though, he was so grateful that he insisted on reading what he referred to as a "special" poem:

_Far over the Misty Mountains cold,_

_To dungeons deep and caverns old,_

_We must away, ere break of day,_

_To seek our pale enchanted gold._

_The dwarves of yore made mighty spells,_

_While hammers fell like ringing bells,_

_In places deep, where dark things sleep,_

_In hollow halls beneath the fells._

_For ancient king and elvish lord_

_There many a gleaming golden hoard_

_They shaped and wrought, and light they caught,_

_To hide in gems on hilt of sword._

"Thank you for the poem sir, but we really must be on our way," Cat hurriedly said, cutting him off. She had seen Frodo open his mouth to say something, and it would not be good at all for him to mention Bilbo or anyone else from _The Hobbit_ in the station. Once they were away from the beggar, Frodo turned to her.

"That was the song the dwarves sung to Uncle Bilbo before his adventures."

"I know Frodo. It's from the book that accounts Bilbo's adventures with Thorin and Company. But we can't mention him here, the Nazgûl are still out there." Cat looked around nervously. It seemed an unnatural coincidence that the poem (song) the man had chosen to sing was from _The Hobbit_.

After the ruckus with the subway, there was another walk, made nightmarish by a paranoid Gandalf, and finally, they were at Macy's.

"That is one large building," Pippin said, his eyes wide. The other hobbits had similar expressions of awe.

"Well don't just stand there looking at it," Cat said impatiently. "Let's go!"

And so the Fellowship of the Ring entered Macy's. Everyone stared at the clothing, shoes, perfume, home products, and makeup in awe.

"You live in a strange world, Lady Cat," Boromir observed, holding up a hot pink stiletto. The other members of the Fellowship made similar comments. Unfortunately for Cat, Pippin was saw the lady's lingerie section and immediately made a beeline for the frilly pink bras and underwear on display.

"It's that stuff in that thing you through away," he said, holding up a black lace push-up bra. Cat went bright red at this.

"Yes Pippin. That would be woman's underwear. Lingerie."

"Really," Pippin continued, his eyes wide. "Does that mean you wear this stuff?" Merry stomped on his foot.

"Pippin, you don't just ask people if they wear underwear. Of course she wears it!" Cat, at this point, was very eager for the conversation to end, due to the fact that she was red as a tomato and everyone was snickering at her.

"Come on, let's go. We didn't come here to shop for underwear." Finally, they reached the men's clothing section.

"Okay, the hobbits and Gimli aren't going to fit in this stuff, so we need to take them to the children's section." Gimli snorted.

"I take offence at that lass! I am no child!"

"Yeah, but you're the height of one!" Gimli looked ready to say something rude at this, but Cat cut him off.

"Who's paying for this stuff? Me! If I want to get you kid's clothes, I'll get you kid's clothes. I could always get something in woman's petite. How would you like that?" It was an empty threat, because woman's petite clothing wouldn't fit Gimli, but still, it shut him up, and Cat was able to continue shopping in peace.

She got jeans for Boromir, Aragorn and Legolas. Aragorn and Boromir got T-shirts, and Legolas got a grey button down thing that looked very nice on him. Of course, Legolas could make a barf-colored dress look like a tuxedo. At one point, a couple of blond teenage girls wearing extremely tiny shorts and tank tops despite the cold weather walked by. They giggled, blushed, and flipped their hair when they walked by Legolas, causing Cat to growl and clench her fists. The girls eventually left, and the Fellowship and Cat headed to the shoe section. Aragorn, Boromir, and Legolas were each bought a pair of high-top plain black converse. Gandalf refused to buy modern clothes, and Cat knew better to argue with a Maia, so they all headed to the children's section.

Cat insisted on putting Frodo in blue because it made his eyes look stunning. This led to a trend, and all four hobbits left the children's section with polo shirts to match their eye color and jeans. Cat couldn't find any shoes that fit them, so she told them they would have to make due without. None of the hobbits seemed to mind much. Gimli was hard to please, but eventually he was satisfied with a Minnesota Vikings T-shirt and jeans. He thought that the Viking on it looked a bit like a dwarf. Now that they were all clothed, Cat spoke up.

"I need to get something to wear to Jason's Christmas Party and you lot are coming with me. Lets go." She headed to the junior's section. Cat was rather small, and woman's clothes didn't fit her that well. She arrived at the Junior's section, where they were playing Katy Perry's California Gurls rather loudly. Frodo was listening intently to the music.

"What song is this? The lyrics are rather vulgar." He wrinkled his nose. Cat had to laugh. Poor Frodo's innocence was being ruined by Katy Perry.

"It's called California Gurls. Kind of funny they're playing it since it's New York in the winter. Not the place or season for beach babes." The Fellowship listened to Snoop Dogg proclaim that he was "toned, tanned, fit and ready." They seemed rather repulsed.

"Come on, I have to pick out a dress," Cat said, getting impatient. She began looking at party dresses while the Fellowship watched curiously, and headed into a dressing room to try on the pile of stuff she had selected. When she had been in the dressing room for about ten minutes, the Nine Walkers started to chat.

"Women," Gimli was saying gruffly. "Always trying on and changing clothes. The lass should hurry up, I'm hungry."

"I second that," Pippin responded, his stomach growling loudly to support his point. Frodo was still listening to the music, which was now Adele's "Someone Like You".

"I like this song much better than the last one," he said. "No disturbing lyrics."

"Women in this world are certainly less modest," Boromir was saying to Legolas.

"I agree," Legolas responded. "Their clothing is absolutely scandalous." Just then, Cat exited the dressing room, holding a strapless, turquoise cocktail dress.

"I'm done," she said happily. "Let's go home and eat dinner. I'm starving."

And so after Cat and the Fellowship went to pay for her dress, they returned to her apartment, after a much calmer trip on the subway and without sighting any ringwraiths. The rest of the night passed without incident. Cat made dinner, which was heartily devoured. Gandalf expressed an interest in reading the first Harry Potter book, and Cat gave him her copy of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," which he immediately became immersed in. She brought out the other Potter books as well, and curled up on the couch to write while the Fellowship looked at them. After a peaceful night, they prepared for bed, and Cat dreamed that Harry Potter battled the Witch King of Angmar while Frodo sang Katy Perry.

**Thanks to my first three reviewers for reading and reviewing! I'll update tomorrow at some point, so keep reading and stay tuned! And the prize for reviewing this chapter is…A massage from Glorfindel!**


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